It
was just over two years ago that we went through a dreadfully
heart-wrenching time with our Australian Shepherd, Shasta.
She sustained an embolism on her spine and was paralyzed.
Thankfully the paralysis was temporary. Her full recovery,
however, took much longer with her dad never giving up on
her.

It was daily regimen of rehab and
numerous visits to the vet rehab specialists and the support of
both her vets and our friends that we were able to celebrate
this sweet victory of Shasta earning her MACH 6 at the Belgium
Tervuren trial on the last day of the year.

Many thanks to our friends who
stood by our decision to keep running with her and who
understood that even though she didn't look the same that she
still deserved a chance to be out there. Shasta certainly
wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We wouldn't have
made that choice without her rehab specialists' consent.

Very special thanks go out to Dr.
Laurie and Dr. Christine at TOPS in Grayslake, Illinois who provided two years of professional
guidance and encouragement with many different exercises and
challenges for Shasta and whose philosophy is to get them back
into the game and into the lifestyle they had before if at all
possible. To Integrative Pet Care who took Shasta in
immediately after she was released from ICU to start her on the
path of recovery. And, speical thanks to Shasta's teacher,
Dana Pike, who kept watchful eye on Shasta as she returned back
to training.

They say it's the journey that
really counts and that's usually the case, but for this little
girl earning that MACH was pretty awesome.